


Why Regeneration Always Leads to Trouble

by shadowed_sunsets



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, also written years and years ago, probably abandoned sorry, so my take on a female doctor, written way before the 13th Doctor era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 16:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17046833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowed_sunsets/pseuds/shadowed_sunsets
Summary: The Doctor's Eleventh regeneration doesn't quite go as planned (not that it ever does), and to her complete surprise the Doctor becomes a woman. And just when she's beginning to finally accept the change, the Doctor crosses paths with two old friends who know her very well and who are likely to uncover the real identity of their mysterious friend much earlier than the Doctor would like.Jack, Tardis, Rose, Doctor (Author-created)





	Why Regeneration Always Leads to Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> This idea just happened to pop into my head, and since I found it extremely amusing... thought I'd run with it.

For all the things that the Doctor had gone through, for all the spring of the moment decisions or actions, this had been nowhere near the top of the list or even in the top one-hundred (even though there were many more than that) of the things the Doctor had expected to happen or to do.

With the understanding that finally, finally this regeneration was ginger (ginger!), came a celebration on the Tardis that lasted for many hours.

But eventually the Doctor had to face the truth that there was an unexpected snag to getting the long-fulfilled wish.

For some reason this time, the eleventh body, the Doctor had regenerated as a woman.

A woman!

The Doctor was fairly certain that if Rose was still with her on the Tardis, the girl would be scolding her to the end of time for having such a reaction. In the headache-causing way she had inherited from Jackie.

Or, laughing her head off.

Probably laughing her head off.

Of course, as time went by the Doctor slowly became comfortable in her new body, and the innumerous differences there were between men and women- and there were so many!- so much to get used to. She didn’t know how women could stand everything involved in being a woman. It took hours longer to get ready to go out- to choose the right outfit (she was so picky now! But at least she had kept her fashion sense), or to figure out what to do with her long, ginger hair (before she had never bothered much with her hair- no matter what Rose said)- she had never before realized how many different kinds of hair products there were. And even though her previous body had been vain- she wasn’t now.

Not that much, anyways.

Of course, the Tardis had been as amused by the change as the Doctor had been horrified- at first. There was nothing like hearing your ship laughing at you in your mind as you tried to ignore it by stomping around the console room in too large, baggy clothing with the legs trailing behind you ranting at the top of your lungs at the unfairness of the universe as the too-new hair went everywhere- in your eyes, your mouth, your nose- the soft ends tickling your new, smooth feminine skin, stopping once in a while in surprise at the sound of your higher and lighter voice- pretending to catch your breath even though your ship knows you far too well to believe you.

But, eventually the Doctor had calmed down to stop and lean against one of the supporting pillars before slowly sliding down to sit on the hard floor- coming off the adrenaline high from all she had had to do just in order to get back to her ship, even with a strained ankle and bullet wound.

She hadn’t expected it to be so hard to escape, from the prison, and the guards, and the ship itself.

 

For a moment the Doctor paused to think. Was it possible that since Rose had left, and because she had been traveling alone for so long, she had become reckless? Was she so eager for the thrill of danger, of adventure that she was willingly getting herself in trouble and in dangerous situations just for the adrenaline and excitement of escaping? Of living?

Was she really that lonely? Was she really that sad?

No, no that wasn’t it. That wasn’t her.

Her entire life had revolved around danger, around trouble, around running.

The Doctor violently shook her head, rising to her feet. She didn’t want to go down that road of thought right now. She couldn’t.

The woman smiled to herself, not that anyone was there to see it, and headed towards the kitchen.

She could really do with tea and a few biscuits right about now.  
Over time, eventually, the Doctor gathered enough courage (which for some reason had fled her for awhile) to journey outside the Tardis- to take part in the everyday social norm.

Without thinking she set the coordinates for Earth, two years after Rose had been taken away from her.

Even after all this time, Time that no matter how hard she tried she could never get a hold of, she still desperately missed Rose. Nothing was the same without Rose, she wasn’t the same without her Rose.

Sometimes, when it all became too much for the Doctor, she returned to London- near the Powell Estates- to simply walk around, and remember.

For hours, for days, for time that went by uncounted, unnoticed, the Doctor would wander around London, reminiscing about all the time here she’d spent with Rose.

She visited the Powell Estates, going as far as to enter the building and climb the stairs up to pause in front of the door to the place that had been Rose’s home for 19 years. Each time the Doctor would stand a few steps away from the threshold, gazing at the cracked white-painted wooden door that looked back at her, judgingly. It would silently challenge her, without fail, every time asking if she was strong enough, brave enough, to unlock it and step inside- to see the haunted and empty apartment, where nothing was changed from that last day, from the day before the universe died. It would ask if she could stand to see all that Rose had left behind, all of her belongings, all the things that made Rose, her Rose.

Was she brave enough?

No, the Doctor would answer silently each time, no she wasn’t.

And so, the apartment remained untouched. Just like Rose’s room in the Tardis. Untouched, both by Time- and her.

Instead the Doctor tried to visit the Powell Estates as little as possible, although sometime the urge came upon her violently. She visited the small shop where Rose and her had often gone for chips and tea, where they had spent so much time together and had so many conversations- even insignificant ones.

She also went past the semi-new building the city had built to replace the shop where Rose had worked- before she blew it up. It was an office building now, with people walking in and out all day and night- working.

The Doctor went by 10 Downing Street- also rebuilt- looking the same as it had been before. Probably used for the same purpose, she thought each time.

Most often, after strategically avoiding the Powell estates, she also visited Big Ben. Once in a while she found that she was brave enough to walk to the top and look out over London, but usually she leaned against a building in the square staring into space and desperately trying to collect any remnants of Rose that remained there.

It was one such day, when she had been standing in the square for several hours feeling more lonely and depressed than she had in awhile (even since Rose had left), that the Doctor was pulled from her quickly darkening thoughts by the sight of a young woman, most likely in her early twenties, with shoulder length brown hair wearing a pink hooded sweatshirt and jeans walking past, talking on her phone.

The Doctor stood transfixed, not able to move even an inch, staring at the woman until a few minutes later when she was nearly out of sight down one of the many sidewalks that led out of and into the square.

Still staring, the Doctor pushed off the wall to straighten up, hands in her pockets. She whispered softly, under her breath, “Rose?” before quickly taking off after the woman.

~~~

It couldn’t be. The person she was following at the moment couldn’t possibly be Rose.

Rose was stuck on the other side of the Vortex, in the parallel universe from where- even years later- the Doctor had yet to find a way to bring her back. Or, if when she found the girl and discovered that Rose was happy there as she hoped she was, to at least see the girl who had meant so much to her.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried, as if hadn’t racked her brilliant mind day after day and hour after hour, sorting through all of her genius to find the one piece of knowledge she knew was somewhere in there that, at the moment, would matter more than anything.

But as time went by and —to her disappointment- the Doctor had yet to think of a way to help Rose, her hearts had begun to grow heavy and whenever she let herself pause, a thick fog of grief and loneliness would overwhelm her.

So, she learned not to think- not to pause.

Instead of thinking about just how much she missed Rose, so much so that her hearts ached with any thought of the blond girl with the cheeky smile and brown eyes that shone with her own light and life that made Rose, Rose. Or, thinking about how when the Doctor was trying to work through a problem, she constantly asked herself “what would Rose do? What would Rose think of?” It was a testament of just how much she had come to rely on and to need Rose during their time together- and even after.

Instead of thinking about all those things, all the things she desperately missed about Rose, the Doctor reminded herself of all the good memories she and Rose had shared- still shared- all the moments they had spent together. And, it helped her somewhat. Even though she still grieved for the girl, remembering those times helped her when she lay wide awake at night on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

But if, beyond all possibilities, this woman truly was Rose then she didn’t need to rely on memories any more. Now she could have new experiences and moments with Rose.

After all, as she had said before, nothing was impossible- not where she was concerned. And it was always better with two.

The Doctor spun around the street corner, nearly running into several people coming the other way, people she had to dodge around while keeping her momentum at the same time.

But in the second when the Doctor had taken her eyes off of the blonde woman ahead of her in order to avoid crashing into other pedestrians, she lost sight of the woman who might, possibly, be Rose- and almost lost her all over again.

When she looked up again, apologizing to a woman who gave her a dirty look in return, there was no sight of the blond head she had been following amongst the large crowd.

Cursing silently, the woman dashed forward into the crowd of people, her eyes constantly moving- studying all the other pedestrians for that one, blonde, head. The problem was that there were so many other people going the same direction- and several of them blonde. She hadn’t realized before how many people here were blonde.

Rose had been special, and because of that the Doctor had held the girl high above all others. For the entire time they had been together- and even afterwards- she had been willing to give her life for Rose’s safety. The 20-year-old had buried herself so far into her hearts that sometimes (although she knew she shouldn’t) the Doctor would put her ahead of everything else, even the universe.

A 20-year-old woman who had been able to bring a grieving, lonely and hurting Time Lord back from the brink of madness to show him how to love again. And show him just how wonderful the universe really was.

She had been so hearts-broken when she thought she’d lost Rose forever, and because of that she’d unfortunately mistreated Martha in turn. It had taken Donna’s sharp tongue and no-nonsense attitude to make her realize that she had a lot to live for and, even without Rose, she needed to move on. It was alright for her to grieve- but not to obsess. Over her long life the Doctor had lost innumerable people who she had cared for and who had been close to her hearts. And no matter how they were lost she did grieve for them, even as time passed- but with Rose her grief had reached a whole new level.

But, if the woman she was following really was Rose- and not just a ghost or an instance of mistaken identity- then her world had become a much brighter and better place.

The Doctor felt a large smile growing on her face, a grin her tenth self would have been proud of, and put on an extra burst of speed as she hurried down the sidewalk.

A block or so later she caught a few seconds flash of blond hair twirling about before disappearing into a café a little more than halfway down the block from where she was now standing.

With a cry of relief and hope, the Doctor dashed forward again- thankful for her lucky gift of a bypass system. It made all of this running much, much easier, even despite her short legs in this incarnation.

Of course now since the woman had gone into a store- one that she hoped had only one entrance and exit- it was less likely for the Doctor to lose her again. But for each moment that she was still apart from Rose, unable to see her face, to hold her hand, to hear her voice was more time she spent with the horrible thought that she may never be with Rose again.

And the Doctor still refused to believe that, not just yet.

Her hand grasped the cold metal of the handle on the door of the small café the woman who might be Rose had disappeared into, and took a long, deep breath before slowly pulling it open with enough space for her to slip inside.

As she took a step forward, a bell ‘ding’-ed from somewhere over her head and a young woman in jeans and a t-shirt covered by a white, cloth apron free of any stains sidled up to her smiling.

“Can I help you, miss?”

The Doctor stood stunned at the ‘miss’ for several moments before she blinked and smiled in return. “Yeah, sorry, I was hoping for a good cup of tea with a scone or something.”

“Right, course. Sit where you like, I’ll be back,” the waitress said before walking away towards the counter.

The Doctor stood just inside the door for several long moments, her light eyes scanning the small sun-lit room that was a little less than half-full with people sipping at plastic cups while doing a number of other things at the same time, such as eating, typing distractedly at primitive laptops or hiding behind papers.

But nowhere in the jungle of people going about their day to day business, was the young blonde woman she had followed into the café.

When the waitress returned, this time with a menu tucked under her arm, the Doctor turned and asked quickly, “did you see a woman with dark blonde hair come in a few minutes ago?” She raised her hand to almost below her chin, “’bout this tall? Heavy London accent, wearing a pink sweatshirt, hoodie, whatever you people call it these days?”

The poor girl blinked at her before handing over the menu. “Yes miss, came in right before you did. Lovely woman, really friendly,” she tilted her head, “she a friend of yours? You meeting her here?”

“No! No, no, no,” the Doctor quickly denied, waving her hands around at her sides. “I was just curious, nothing to the question really. She’s not in trouble either before you ask. Just,” she paused, wondering how to make her next words not sound awkward or stalker-ish, “is there a table near her?”

“Yes, miss,” the waitress replied, and lifted her arm to point to one of the booths lining the floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto the street on the other side of the room. “She’s there,” the smile returned full-force again; “you want to order now?”

Without glancing at the menu, and keeping her eyes on the booth the waitress had pointed out, the Doctor told the girl she’d have tea with milk and sugar as well as a scone with whatever first came to her distracted mind before hurrying to the other side of the café.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you looked at it, the girl who was Rose was sitting with her back to the rest of the room, preoccupied instead by staring out the window. As she slipped into the booth behind her, the Doctor caught a glimpse of a mostly drunk cup of tea and a small plate with one biscuit resting on top of it, making the Doctor smile. It seemed Rose’s preferences had remained unchanged over the years.

In the booth, the Time Lord leaned her head back against the top of the seat and spread her legs out underneath the table- taking the opportunity to simply enjoy being in Rose’s presence again after all this time.

Breathing in through her nose, she inhaled the sweet scent of Rose’s shampoo, fruity and sweet that mixed perfectly in combination with her own unique smell that the Doctor had missed so much, and each time the other girl moved the scent would waft past her.

For many long minutes neither of them spoke, the loud noises of the other patrons fading into a manageable quiet hum. As if the café were one in a romance novel, and the two of them characters, everything around their little space seemed to fade away leaving the two of them the only ones in the café- alone together.

The Doctor was shaken from her daydream by the chink of metal hitting metal, and lifted her head to its normal position- wincing at the sudden stiffness- in time to see the waitress setting a small white plate with a single scone resting on it on the table in front of her. A few seconds later a tall plastic cup with a black lid joined the plate, a cup that was- supposedly- filled with tea. Wonderful tea.

She raised her head to give the waitress a brief, thankful smile before the young girl scurried away, and with a shrug picked up the plastic cup to take a long, warm sip of the liquid.

Behind her high-pitched tinny beats broke through the air causing the Doctor to sit up and look around the room. In the booth next to her, Rose shifted around in her seat, her clothes rustling noisily as she tried to find the offending noise-making object before turning her attention to the purse at her side and rustling through that.

Finally with a cry of relief- and that funny little smile of her the Doctor bet- the small cell phone was found, flipped open and put to her ear.

“Tyler,” Rose answered, sounding very professional and cautious, but when the person on the other end spoke the smile returned full-force and expressed her delight with cheerful, light laughter.

“Why, Jack Harkness! Never would’ve thought you’d be callin’ a poor girl like me. To what do I owe the please?” Rose nearly crowed the man’s name, sitting upright as she spoke before relaxing in her seat so the back of her head rested against the seat.

The Doctor on the other hand tensed at the sound of her friend’s name, a friend who she had not seen in many years or who she had considered visiting either. It wasn’t that the two of them parted on remarkably poor terms, they remained good friends, but somehow Jack had gotten the idea from some things the Doctor hadn’t said that the last time they had seen each other would be the last time she would visit for a while- maybe forever- and she hadn’t said or done anything to dissuade that idea in Jack’s mind.

Of course the Doctor felt regret for leaving her friend alone, although this situation was most definitely not the same as of the game station. Jack had been through so many things with her, and Rose, and had definitely rescued and saved both of their lives more than the Doctor felt the need to count.

She hadn’t left Jack behind like many of her other companions- left back on Earth to lead ordinary lives always wishing for more and never to see the Doctor again, except perhaps for once or twice by accident. Jack had been left as the head of one of the major branches of Torchwood with the promise of changing and improving the company to a better standard, and with the chance of seeing his friend much more likely than for most.

But for all the promises of forever, he had still been left behind.

The Doctor shook herself from her dark thoughts and instead sipped at her tea and nibbled on her scone- without really noticing what she was doing- while intently listening to and focusing on the sound of Rose’s wonderful, clear bright voice.

She was laughing freely and teasing Jack throughout the short conversation, which the Doctor took to mean the two of them had found each other again quite awhile ago and renewed their friendship as fast friends. Most likely it was soon after Rose had somehow found her way back to this universe. The Doctor was fairly sure not that much time had passed in the linear fashion, but it seemed as if many changes had occurred in whatever time had passed. The time she had been gone or away.

Her hearts felt lighter with the realization that she hadn’t left her two dear friends to spend the rest of their lives alone. Of course, in the other universe Rose had had her mother, her dad (in most senses), Mickey and supposedly a sibling while Jack had had his job and colleagues at Torchwood. And, when Rose had somehow returned here she suddenly hadn’t been alone again either- she and Jack had been reunited and were able to support each other, knowing each other so well.

At least now she knew she hadn’t abandoned them completely, they were in good hands.

“Jack!” Rose giggled from behind the Doctor, sounding like only half her heart was in the admonishment. “Jack! Stop it!” She laughed again. “Gods, you still haven’t changed a bit have you? Not that you ever will,” Rose added, sounding half resigned.

There was a somewhat long reply that followed, made by a deep male voice that sounded awfully cheeky and teasing- just like the Doctor remembered Jack sounding, and warmed her hearts to hear.

For a long moment she fought the urge to turn around in her seat, tap Rose on the shoulder and introduce herself as the Doctor before sweeping her up into a tight hug and refusing to let go for a very long time.

But, she couldn’t. Not yet. It was too soon, she wasn’t ready to completely believe that this wasn’t a dream- a really good dream.

“Jack, darling, I can’t really. Today’s my day off and-“ She paused suddenly. “what? No, Jack I-“ Rose laughed, throwing her head back. “Alright, alright! You obviously know my weakness, Jack Harkness.” A grin broke across the girl’s face, of which the Doctor caught only a glimpse of. “Yeah, right. Just have to stop at the store quick. But I’ll be there. Yeah.”

As the Doctor listened, trying not to appear like she was eavesdropping, and behind her Rose laughed one last time before snapping her phone closed and dropping it in her purse. She then slid out of her seat and stood, slapping a few pounds onto the table and walked out with a bright smile.

Not wanting to lose sight of her, the Doctor took one last sip of her tea and bite of her scone before blindly throwing some pounds down before hurrying out and following Rose along the sidewalk.

After a little longer than a five minute walk, consisting of the Doctor having to duck into doorways the few times Rose turned to look behind her- perhaps sensing she was being followed- as she walked down the sidewalk with a distinctive spring in her step.

When Rose finally stopped and walked into a supermarket, the Doctor paused for a few moments before following her inside. She hesitated again right in front of the doorway inside the door, blocking the entrance, and then took a deep breath before she picked up a basket and nonchalantly pacing around the store, keeping an eye out for a glimpse of Rose.

She finally found the other woman in the aisle where all the numerous drinks where, standing thoughtfully in front of a large bottle of ginger ale with her head tilted slightly to the side and her tongue in-between her teeth.

Smiling to herself and trying desperately to calm her racing hearts- she was so close! Rose was here, here! Only a few feet away!- the Doctor walked slowly towards Rose, turning her head from side to side absently glancing at the labels on the drinks as she passed by. Not that she was actually here to buy anything.

Stopping nearly in mid-stride, she finally stopped a foot or so away from Rose to turn and regard the drinks in front of her while actually attempting to catch glimpses of Rose. After a few moments of silence she sighed, rocking from foot to foot, fidgeting, before reaching up to the shelf above Rose’s gaze and attempting to pull down a small six-pack of lime soda. But they turned out to be heavier than the Doctor expected and she accidently dropped them the few feet to the floor, causing the six cans to separate and hit the tiled floor with a loud clang only an inch or so away from Rose’s foot.

“Oh, geez! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” the Doctor apologized, stooping to pick up the hopefully not damaged small cans. “I can be such a klutz,” she explained, hair falling in her face as she attempted to hold all of the cans.

Next to her, Rose laughed and bent down as well to try and help the other woman. “Don’t worry, it's fine. I’m the same way, ‘specially ‘round these things,” the girl reassured her grinning. Rose looked up; fixing her with a bright smile that made the Doctor’s hearts beat even faster and made her forget what she was just about to say.

“Yeah, these things are complete rubbish- that’s what they are,” she replied, not realizing there was a dreamy smile on her face as she stared at Rose. “Don’t really see how the stupid companies think we’re supposed to use them.”

If possible Rose’s smile grew wider and her tongue made another appearance- god, it had been far too long since she’d seen that smile and had it aimed on her- as Rose said, “that’s why I don’t buy them, 'cause they’re useless.”

“Huh?” The Doctor replied intelligently, dazzled by that smile. She blinked and shook her head, “right, sorry. I’ll get out of your way.” The woman slowly rose to her feet, doing her best not to drop one of the cans held in her arms, “sorry again about nearly smashing your foot. Well, I’m not really because it would be a really bad thing if I got sued. So please, please don’t.” The Doctor tried her best, ‘I’m innocent, I didn’t do anything so please, please don’t hurt me,’ patented look she had only begun to perfect in this body. Although she’d found that even though it wasn’t perfect yet, the look worked quite often (more than half the time), probably because she was a woman now.

Rose laughed and shook her head humorously, “no worries, anyone’s mistake.” She extended her hand to the Doctor in a friendly way, tilting her head. “I’m Rose- Rose Tyler.”

The Doctor tensed, her hand stretched out halfway to Rose while she somehow managed not to drop any cans. A name? She hadn’t thought of that. As a man she had had many aliases she could use, but since she’d regenerated- in this body, she hadn’t needed any. What was a common woman’s name?

Realizing that Rose was still standing there patiently waiting for her, the Doctor took Rose’s hand and gently shook it- resisting the urge to use it to pull the girl into a tight hug- not having to force the smile on her face. “Emily, my name’s Emily.”

Letting go of her hand after a moment, Rose blinked in confusion. “Emily? Emily…”

“Just Emily,” the Doctor confirmed.

Rose laughed. “Well, Emily,” she said, pulling a business card out of her purse and handing it over, “call me sometime and we can hang out. See ya,” the girl offered before walking away down the aisle.

The Doctor studied the card in her hand after Rose had gone out of sight and smiled to herself. It seemed that no matter how many years had passed; Rose was still the warm, friendly and trusting girl she remembered.


End file.
